


First of Many

by mustachio



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:58:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustachio/pseuds/mustachio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Salai really is worth all of the trouble he brings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First of Many

If he were to die an early death, there is no doubt in Leonardo's mind that Salai would be the cause. After five years of taking care of the boy, trying - and failing - to keep him in line, and having to deal with the consequences of his actions, Salai had exhausted him completely. He questioned his sanity at times, questioned what exactly it was that made him think that keeping a boy as mischievous, as selfish, and as unapologetic as Salai around was a good idea? He was only fifteen, and already he had exhausted Leonardo more than anything else in his life thus far.

Salai comes home early that night - early being used extremely loosely. It was already near midnight, but for the one who typically only came home at the first sign of sunlight, midnight was an extremely early time. Leonardo hadn't meant to be up to greet the boy, but tonight was a restless night. Something, though he wasn't sure what, felt very off tonight and it left a gnawing feeling in the back of his mind that just wouldn't let him sleep peacefully. Salai's early return did not help that feeling to go away. There were very few things that ever kept him from staying out all night and having all of the fun he could before the taverns closed, unless of course he'd angered the wrong person.

When Salai walks into the room Leonardo looks him over, trying to find any sign of what could have prompted this early return. The first thing he notices is the boy's outfit - not a familiar piece of clothing on him, right down to his shoes - and no doubt this new outfit was a product of the florins he'd noticed missing earlier that day. His curls were messy, the aforementioned new clothes rumpled, and the blood on his doublet did not escape Leonardo's sight although it was obvious Salai had been trying to hide it.

"Come, Salai. Let us look at what damage has been done."

It's with a sigh and a shake of his head that Leonardo turns to fetch his medical supplies. Salai caused him so much grief, gave him such headaches, and yet for some reason that was behind even him, he cared too much about the boy to just let him go or let him deal with his the trouble he got himself into himself. He took care to try and strip Salai's top half with out aggregating any wounds he may have, but from the way he winced every time his fingers would so much as brush against his shoulder, it seemed that this wound was nothing to be taken lightly. The wound is deeper than Leonardo would have originally thought, blood still flowing freely from it and only kept from going though Salai's clothes any more than it already had by a poorly wrapped cloth that was already far too dirty to possibly be doing anything for him. As he unwraps the useless cloth he lets his hands run over the boy's skin lightly, barely feeling the soft skin underneath them and the hint of the muscle that was still developing underneath that skin. He wasn't particularly muscular or strong right now, but he would be eventually if this feeling were anything to go by.

"Why do you do these things? Why must you get into these fights so often?"

His voice is reprimanding, but soft. Lecturing never gets him anywhere with Salai and he is too exhausted for that anyway. Besides, the look on Salai's face tells him that he is upset enough; nothing he says will make any difference if Salai has already made himself regret his actions. Nobody gets through to Salai like Salai does.

"Those guards were insulting you. I wanted to make them stop."

Salai doesn't look at Leonardo when he answers, embarrassed to admit the reason and ashamed that his efforts had clearly failed. He winces and sucks in a breath through gritted teeth when Leonardo presses a cloth soaked with medicine to his shoulder. The pressure hurt and the medicine itself stung, but it was his own fault. He's the one that took on a fight he should have known he couldn't win. He looks up at the artist when he hears him laugh, it's a light laugh and one he was likely not meant to hear, but he did and it makes him narrow his eyes in a glare. It wasn't funny that he'd gotten hurt trying to defend him.

Leonardo just smiles back at him and rests a hand on his curls and presses a kiss to his forehead. For all of the trouble Salai gives him, he certainly can be very endearing when he shows how much he actually does care. He wishes his apprentice would show that side more rather than his usual troublemaking one. It would be so much easier to show that he shares those caring feelings when he wasn't busy trying to fix whatever mess Salai had gotten into.

Once Leonardo is finished re-wrapping the wound he takes Salai by the hand and leads him up to his room. He knows that Salai enjoys sharing his bed and tonight he would welcome it. Tonight, when the only trouble Salai had caused was on his behalf, he is much more patient with his apprentice, much more willing to appease the boy. When they're settled in bed and Leonardo is finally about to fall asleep he is shaken awake once again, but rather than feeling the annoyance that threatened to come out he feels only surprise and a good deal of, well, happiness. He had expected some sort of smart remark, something that would ruin the peace of the night, but instead he finds a pair of lips on his, staying there until Leonardo actually begins to kiss back and then he pulls away. Salai is smiling for the first time that night - more a smirk than a smile, but that is typical for Salai. It's the first time he has ever been so upfront with his affections and Leonardo is more than happy for it and just as happy to return the gesture with another kiss.

"Good night, Maestro."

"Good night, Salai."

After that Salai settles back into the covers and rests his head on Leonardo's chest. They both fall asleep smiling that night.


End file.
